"Wait —"
"Black Dream" Yun Haixin asked, "Who are this' Gao Huan 'and' Jiang Xue 'exactly? Are they real people, or are they some sort of … illusion created by the Puppet King? "
"I don't know."
Chu Zhixiao shook his head and said, "Even if 'Gao Huan' and 'Jiang Xue' are real people, we can't find any files about them. According to our preliminary speculation, Gao Huan and Jiang Xue are probably a couple among the thousands of soldiers and civilians of the Imperium that we captured. However, in the previous twenty years of luring the enemy and the recent battles against the Thick Soil Sector and Black Castle, a lot of people of the Imperium were captured.
"For the leadership of the Imperium, perhaps we hypnotized them to confess a lot of intelligence, but for the bottom-level officers, the soldiers in the frontline, and the common pioneers, it was impossible for us to waste too much time and energy on them. They were all sent to the Channeling Temples in the rear to purge their filthy thoughts and painful memories so that they could be reborn. Then, they were given new names and numbers, and they became our compatriots.
"Even if Gao Huan and Jiang Xue are really captives, I'm afraid that they have forgotten everything in the past. It's impossible for us to find them."
"That might not be the case."
Yun Haixin sneered, "At the very least, this' Gao Huan 'does not seem to have forgotten his wife,' Jiang Xue '. Also, his love for his wife has been exploited by the Puppet King into a terrifying weapon that threatens the entire brainwashing system of the Holy League!"
"Black Dream —"
Chu Zhixiao said, "You are gloating, as if you want to see the purging system of the Holy League collapse, right?"
"Of course. What purging? It's obviously brainwashing, which is full of lies and indescribable evilness. Living human beings are turned into … into ignorant machines!"
Yun Haixin gnashed her teeth and said, "The Imperium of True Human Beings may be unbearable, but it is no better than one percent of the Alliance of the Holy Covenant in the competition of 'evilness'!"
"You're doing it again. I don't understand."
Chu Zhixiao frowned. "If you despise the system of the Holy League, and you seem to boast independent willpower, clear thinking, and the ability to resist, why don't you resist and break the 'wretched system'? Even if you're like a turtle in a jar, you can still fight to the death. I don't think you're someone who's afraid of death, and you don't lack the courage to die for a noble cause. Why? You clearly don't like everything here, yet you still want to live so unwillingly? "
These words were like a sharp sword that pierced Yun Haixin's throat, forcing all his anger back into his stomach. His face was red, and he huffed and puffed for a long time. Then, he hugged his head and sat back down. His entire body was deflated.
"All in all, time is too short for us to find out the identities of 'Gao Huan' and 'Jiang Xue' right now. However, judging from the interrogation records of the dozens of infected people, we are inclined to believe that 'Gao Huan' does exist and that he is a special force soldier of a garrison of the Imperium."
Chu Zhixiao did not pester Yun Haixin. He glanced at Yuan Kou and Guan Qixing and continued. "During the interrogation, they both mentioned some of their mottled memories. The topography, climate, and gravity index they mentioned matched the planet of Black Castle very well.
"Besides, Black Castle is a planet that we have conquered recently. Billions of garrison troops and pioneers have been brought to the rear for purging. It is not surprising that some of the viruses have been brought here."
"Then, why are we not going to Black Castle?"
"Giant Spirit," Yuan Kou said gruffly. "What are you doing in the Golden Lion Realm?"
"Don't be hasty. Listen to me and watch these videos."
Chu Zhixiao played some videos and analysis reports through Li Yao, the spider tank, again. The names of some 'soldier bees' and 'worker bees' and their relationships appeared in the videos and reports. Pointing at the complicated lines and circles, Chu Zhixiao said, "In the past three days, dozens of outbreaks of the 'Love Virus' have occurred. At least three to a hundred people of the Holy League have been infected. They mistakenly thought that they were a special force soldier of the Imperium named 'Gao Huan' and came to the Holy League to look for their wife 'Jiang Xue'. However, the degree of their infection varies. Those who are not infected will cry in silence without eating, drinking, or working, and they will mumble the name 'Jiang Xue' repeatedly as if their heart is broken.
"Those who are more seriously infected, as I said just now, are highly aggressive. They mistakenly believe that we have imprisoned 'Jiang Xue' somewhere and are determined to find his wife. Whoever stands in their way, be it their superiors or the sacred priests, will be the targets of their execution.
"Even the priests of the race of Ultimate Benevolence are not spared. After they are infected with the 'Love Virus', their deep love and obsession for 'Jiang Xue' will be implanted in their heads.
"According to the time of the outbreak and the degree of the infection, we have made a few diffusion maps and locked onto dozens of sources of infection. They are the guys who are most seriously infected and most aggressive at the beginning of the outbreak. There is a lot of evidence that most of the infected people were gradually poisoned and infected after they were in close contact with the sources of infection."
"That's right …"
Yuan Kou said, "Then, is there any connection between the sources of infection?"
"On the surface, there is none."
Chu Zhixiao analyzed calmly. "They are either miners on a resource planet, soldiers who are about to be sent to the frontline, or even priests who are managing the situation on a certain starship. They are not similar in terms of identity, location, or tribe at all. However, after digging deeper, we discovered a shocking fact. All the sources of infection have been 'deeply purged' in the Channeling Temple in the Golden Lion Sector in the past month."
"Ah …"
Yuan Kou nodded. Even though his brain was somewhat sluggish, he still realized what was going on. "That is why we are here."
"Yes. There is reason to believe that this place is the source of the 'Love Virus'," Chu Zhixiao said.
"The few soldiers who attacked our boss at the beginning were all the soldiers of the Imperium who had just been captured. They completed their 'recruit education' in the Channeling Temple in the Golden Lion Sector half a month ago and became loyal and tamed warriors of the Fire Clan. The maintenance worker who mistakenly thought that 'Jiang Xue' was in a vacuum opened the airtight gate without any hesitation and jumped into space because of the Disillusionment Virus on his starship a while ago. Although he was not infected, he had seen his companions who were infected by the Disillusionment Virus, who were half-dead and paralyzed in bed. Therefore, he was sent to the Golden Lion Sector to be 'melted down', too. The priest was the most obvious example. His starship belonged to the same battle sequence as the 'Light Chaser' that we boarded three days ago. The fact that the 'mutated Taotie Virus' on the Light Chaser could infect the priests raised the vigilance of the leadership. Therefore, a large batch of priests on the Light Chaser were summoned to the rear for soul examination and deep purging to make sure that the mutated versions of the Disillusionment Virus, Glory Virus, and Taotie Virus were not lurking deep inside their brains.
"But as it turned out, the priest did not have the mutated Disillusionment Virus, Glory Virus, or Taotie Virus in his brain, but soon after the examination and purging, he fell in love with a woman named 'Jiang Xue'!
"So far, all the sources of infection have been purged in the Channeling Temple in the Golden Lion Sector. During the purging process, their brains must've been completely open and defenseless. There would've been dire consequences if the virus had taken advantage of it!"
"Got it."
The colorful lights on Guan Qixing's head were flashing crazily. "This is a serial scheme to spread the virus, like landmines that have been detonated consecutively."
Yuan Kou scratched his head in confusion, "What chain of tactics?"
"Haven't we been wondering why the King of Puppets showed up on the Light Chaser voluntarily and caused such a huge explosion?"
Guan Qixing said. "Although a warship was detonated, it was impossible to hurt the foundation of the Holy League. He should've been well aware of that. Why did he have to take such a risk?
"Now that I think about it, he might've been deliberately alerting us to raise our wariness.
"The more Disillusionment Virus, Glory Virus, and Taotie Virus he spread outside, the more vigilant the Inquisition of Heresy would be and the attention of the Ultimate Benevolence Masters would be raised. Then, more infected people and potential infected people would be sent to the Channeling Temple in the rear to open their brains and receive 'defensive treatment'.
"If he had snuck into a certain Channeling Temple earlier, he would've been able to take advantage of the situation and implant the viruses into people's open brains blatantly. Even many people who were determined enough not to be infected might've been corrupted by him.
"Assuming that someone was implanted with the highly inconspicuous Love Virus after being purified in one temple and then sent to another temple for purification soon after, all the temples might've fallen if they were continuously infected. Then, the order of the Holy League would've been gone.
"Yes, that must be it. The King of Puppets is no longer satisfied with detonating a few warships and spreading a few viruses. His target is all the Channeling Temples, at least the super Channeling Temples that are the largest, most efficient, and most populous. As long as he corrupts those Channeling Temples, he will be corrupting the entire Holy League!"
Chu Zhixiao and Yuan Kou looked at each other and nodded at the same time.
Yes. If the King of Puppets' ambitions were not limited to being the leader of the Divine Heart Society and causing 'minor trouble' for the Holy League now and then, it would've been useless to detonate a few viruses every few days.
Detonating the viruses and creating threats so that more and more priests would feel the need of deep purification and voluntarily send themselves to the 'Purification Cabins' in the temples in the rear. If he controlled the 'Purification Cabins' in a certain way …
Today, it was still the Love Virus that was relatively easy to be discovered. But tomorrow, would it become a more inconspicuous and fatal virus that could control people's minds without them knowing it?
The shuttle shivered and gradually slowed down.
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